Transcript

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>> It's become one of Africa's fastest growing economies. But anger from those who feel shut out in the dash for development has put Ethiopia in a state of emergency. These were the scenes there just over a week ago. It was a festival to give thanks, but it turned into a protest against the government.

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Police firing teargas and shooting into the air, triggering a stampede in which scores of people died. Reuter's Bureau Chief, Edmund Blair is in Nairobi and says the incident was part of months of unrest.>> In the regions of Oromo and Amhara, around the capitol, where much of the industrialization has just gone on, many of the people say they have been neglected.

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The latest wave of protest began in 2014 when the government launched a development plan around the capitol that would have changed some of the boundaries. For locals, particularly in Oromo they saw this as a veiled attempt to take their land for meager compensation and sell it on to foreign firms at great profit.

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>> This burnt down building, one of those foreign owned firms. Almost a dozen factories and flour farms have been attacked in the protests. Ethiopia's Prime Minister now blaming dissidence abroad for stirring up the violence, denying charges that his government clamps down on free speech and opposition.>> The government blames armed gangs.

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It says foreign elements are supporting them. The locals say they are just frustrated. Opponents of the government say that the problems are far closer to home, and of the government's own making, accusing the government of grabbing their land and denying them political rights.>> What began as unrest over land ownership has snowballed into a cry for broader political rights, casting a shadow on what has been one of Africa's success stories.